With saxophonist Peter Epstein's hard hitting "Staring at the Sun" CD the musicians held court in my listening room. Still, the Puccini's sweeter balance was easier to listen to with harsh recordings, of which I have many.Ĭhord Electronics Dave Ultimate Reference DAC rear panel I felt the rhythms more, the Puccini was more laid back. Switching back to Dave there's the jump factor, Dave seemed more rhythmically alive than the Puccini with jazz guitar player Charlie Hunter and drummer Bobby Previte's groove heavy "Come In Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader" album, there was more bounce in their music. Dave connects the musical dots better than the Puccini. Dave put the music first, this Burrell album has a late night feel, it just flows, with nimble rhythmic undercurrents.Ī week into the review I put Dave aside and returned to my dCS Puccini CD player, but the sound didn't quite match Dave's agility. This recording from 1972 has a very analog feel, with a tremendous soundstage that extended a few feet beyond the edges of the ME1 speakers. Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell's "'Round Midnight" CD worked its magic on me. Yes, there was lots of detail, but the real magic was in the subtle shading and nuance of the sound.
I mostly used Dave as a preamp/DAC with a Pass Labs XA25 power amplifier and TAD ME-1 speakers and three words best summarize the sound: Effortless high-resolution. Dave also lacks the ability to process Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) files.ĭave's solid aluminum chassis is downright petite by high-end standards, measuring a trim 13.1 x 2.8 x 6 inches (333x71x154mm). Alternatively you could use Dave purely as a digital converter, with a separate preamplifier and hook up a turntable to that. Sadly, Dave has no analog inputs so anyone wishing to use Dave as a preamp with a turntable will be out of luck. Digital resolution extends to ultra high rate 768kHz/32-bit PCM and DSD 512 (8X). The rear panel's connectivity suite runs to four coaxial (BNC not RCA jacks), one AES/EBU, two TosLink optical, and one USB digital inputs analog preamp outputs include stereo RCA and XLR. That's all good, but most folks will likely use the cheap, black plastic remote control, which definitely clashes with Dave's otherwise impeccable build quality. The volume control has a deliciously smooth luxury feel. The strategy seems to be working, Dave produces stunning clarity with everything from plain vanilla CDs to high-res files.ĭave's big and colorful display and cursor control buttons dominate the top panel, and there's a 6.3mm headphone jack on the front. Too much of high-end design is tired and bland, but no audiophile would say that about Chord Electronics, witness its Dave Ultimate Reference DAC! This made-in-the-UK digital converter boasts proprietary digital processing that utilizes Spartan 6 Field Programmable Gate Arrays that Chord claims have one thousand times the processing power of mass-produced chip DACs. I love high-end audio gear, but I have to admit it doesn't always look as good as it sounds.